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    Ray FosseHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:05pm

    The idiot parents are to blame here. As awful as it is, the zoo staff couldn’t exactly wait to see if the gorilla was going to tear the child in half, and they’ve made it clear why they were afraid to opt for a tranquilizer. If they had hesitated and the kid were now dead, everybody would be having a conniption over that. So here’s a little rule of thumb for any parents out there- if you have a toddler near a gorilla enclosure, do make sure that the child doesn’t fall into the gorilla enclosure.

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      GregSamsaRay Fosse
      5/30/16 6:08pm

      I’ve seen a lot of people saying they should’ve shot the parents, not the gorilla. Truth is, kids are great at disappearing. It’s what they do—you can blink and the kid is off doing fantastically terrifying kid shit. This was an awful situation, and while I’m not defending the zoo, I’m not entirely certain what else could’ve been done—and I’m fairly certain blaming, or not blaming, the parents does much good.

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      TheBurnersMyDestinationRay Fosse
      5/30/16 6:11pm

      True, who the fuck doesn’t keep track of their 4 year old at the zoo? And the zoo also pointed out (in response to the “why didn’t they just tranq him” comments) that tranquilizers are not instantaneous, and shooting him with the dart usually riles them up and would pose a danger to the kid.

      I am slightly curious as to why it is even possible to get into the enclosure, though. Every zoo I have ever been to (2, admittedly) has diamond link or mesh behind the bars to ensure no little kids can fall in around the dangerous animals. And didn’t something similar happen a while back, also with gorillas? They are dangerous, people.

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    doodietangHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:15pm

    All I know is I would have shot that ‘rilla dead immediately if that were my child. And all of you would have too.

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      Mrs. Kravitzdoodietang
      5/30/16 6:24pm

      We are going to assume that you are not stupid enough to let your little kid play around near the gorilla cage, apparently not (or poorly) supervised.

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      doodietangMrs. Kravitz
      5/30/16 6:26pm

      Kids can be sneaky little fuckers

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    MananabanHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:04pm

    How about instead of bitching about the zoo, you bitch about the worthless mom who said it was god’s will for the Gorilla to die?

    That, and letting her kid climb over a four or five foot barrier, then over a hedge, and then over a safety net to fall into the Gorilla’s enclosure.

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      PigsqueelMananaban
      5/30/16 6:10pm

      Yes, my favorite, using god as a deflector because you are a fuckup. that woman is the worst

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      Johnny CrapMananaban
      5/30/16 6:11pm

      The natural sequel is when this opportunistic parent sues the zoo for an outrageous sum.

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    Starling81Hannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:14pm

    If a four-year old could defeat the barrier, the zoo needs to seriously re-think what they consider a secure enclosure.

    Edited for conciseness

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      Armageddon T. ThunderbirdStarling81
      5/30/16 6:33pm

      That enclosure is designed to keep the gorillas in. Zero gorillas escaped that enclosure. I’m not sure what you want the zoo to do here.

      I think ticket prices would be too high if they kept hundreds of babysitters on staff.

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      Eager OphiuchusArmageddon T. Thunderbird
      5/30/16 6:41pm

      The point of the enclosure is also to keep the animal safe. A zoo isn’t doing its job if someone can slip in and explore like that. This reminds me of the guy swimming with the orca at night (and then being killed by it). They claim to have a mission of conservation, so that enclosure is obviously inadequate.

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    PigsqueelHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:11pm

    I bet this could all be avoided if we just got rid of zoos.

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      spanther22aPigsqueel
      5/30/16 6:20pm

      Or kids.

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      dpeters11Pigsqueel
      5/30/16 6:21pm

      That’s not a solution either. It’s not like you can take the gorillas and let them loose in Africa. They have never been in the wild, they aren’t captured. Also, Zoos are involved in rehabilitation. Both Columbus and Cincinnati have Manatees, which are eventually released back to the wild.

      It’s also hard for a lot of people to care about something they’ve never seen.

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    gabor-with-Nagy-GHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:26pm

    as far as I could tell, the gorilla was caring for the kid, carrying him around, holding him, like a responsible adult. Unlike his idiot parents who let the kid out of sight, out of reach. If anyone ACTED irresponsible and should have been away from the kid, it’s the parents.

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      GeorgeMotherfuckingJonesgabor-with-Nagy-G
      5/30/16 7:03pm

      Yep, caring for him by dragging him around the moat. That’s real parent like and safe.

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      AnnieW50gabor-with-Nagy-G
      5/30/16 7:24pm

      I understand the video people are seeing is edited. It was much more threatening in parts.

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    Ole Slew FootHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:11pm

    The change.org petition is not protesting the shooting. Its asking that he parents take responsabiltiy for being shitty parents.

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      Connie MilliganOle Slew Foot
      5/30/16 6:40pm

      A change.org petition to ask parents to take responsibility for being shitty parents is the stupidest idea for a petition I have ever heard of.

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      Ole Slew FootConnie Milligan
      5/30/16 6:41pm

      If you wanted im sure that you could find worse.

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    sgtyukonHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:03pm

    I haven’t seen any explanation of how the kid got into the enclosure, have you?

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      Icecold Davissgtyukon
      5/30/16 6:07pm

      Poor parenting

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      under_electriclitesgtyukon
      5/30/16 6:09pm

      They keep saying he “slipped and fell in”.

      A four year old slips over a fence? How’s that physics, professor?

      I read the mom had actually had a visit from CPS before as well. Great.

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    Arctic_AttorneyHannah Gold
    5/30/16 6:10pm

    Everyone wants to blame the parents and the zoo, and at they both deserve their fair share of scorn here. But the bystanders who thought it was a good idea to lean over the edge at a clearly agitated gorilla deserve a heaping of scorn as well. If the gorilla hasn't gotten so worked up from all of the idiots yelling he may still be alive today.

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      hurricane21Arctic_Attorney
      5/30/16 6:25pm

      And if the zoo had done a better job with their barriers and if the kids parents had done a better job of watching him we wouldn’t have to try and assign blame to people who had nothing to do with the situation. Look, I think it’s disgusting if people were trying to agitate the gorilla, but it’s a little much to ‘blame’ the crowd. Those people could have been completely silent and the gorilla very well could have become agitated too. It's a terrible situation all around.

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      erelongdonedodoesdidArctic_Attorney
      5/30/16 6:26pm

      I read an eye witness statement and apparently this kid squirmed his way through barriers past many, many people and none of them stopped him because it wasn't THEIR kid. There's a lot of fail to go around on this one.

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    stacyinbeanHannah Gold
    5/30/16 7:13pm

    I’m not sure why blame can't be shared between the parents, who should have been paying better attention, and the zoo, which should not have enclosures that can be breached my mischievous four year olds. The situation sucks, they did what had to be done. It's unfortunate the gorilla died and fortunate the boy is safe.

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      under_electriclitestacyinbean
      5/30/16 9:41pm

      Because this day and age we have gone over the edge with parents in regards to being responsible for their children.

      When it comes to schools, ask teachers what the biggest issue is: The parents. They refuse to listen to the teachers when they say something in the negative about their children. I know a number of teachers for the lower grades and its all the same story: “Its not my kid that’s the problem, its not me that’s the problem, its you (the teacher).”

      People’s kids are everyone else’s problem BUT the parents’. You see this in stores too, where parents let their kids run wild and when they get hurt they blame the staff, they blame the store, etc. And God forbid you try to take preventative action so the kid doesn’t get hurt, and they’re on you like white on rice with the“How dare you’s” and the “Don’t talk to my child that way.”, “You don’t have the right to tell my kid what to so.!” Meanwhile, precious angel whose head still weighs more than his body is running around metal racks, weeble-wobbling as he goes.

      Society has retreated enough from these types of parents and its time they pushed back and put the onus of responsibility on the parents, ESPECIALLY these uber irresponsible parents.

      Jeff Corwin sounded off on this also, I will paraphrase: The world is not your babysitter. If you’re overwhelmed and your kid is a handful, grab one of those damn leashes they make for kids. I’ve never laughed at those things and thought they were genius.

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      meeting people is easystacyinbean
      5/30/16 10:06pm

      Since that enclosure was built, 38 years ago, not a single person has “slipped” through or breached the enclosure. How many thousands (more like millions) of people do you think have been there in 38 years?

      I don’t see how the zoo is at fault for any of this. It should just be chalked up to a freak accident.

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